Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Contact
Ace:aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com Recent Entries
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - December 11, 2024 [TRex]
For the Birds Cafe NYT: The Biden "Immigration Boom" Is the Biggest In This Country's Almost 250-Year History; 60% of Recent "Newcomers" Entered Illegally Utah Man News West Point Administrator Colludes With Leftwing Attack Dog to Smear Pete Hegseth With Completely-False Lie Prices Jump 2.7% In November as Country Enjoys Fourth Straight Year of Transitory Inflation The Criminal Christopher Wray Announces His Resignation at FBI "Townhall" Non-Breaking News: CNN's Ratings Are Absolute Dogshit and Not Even the Smoldering Dark Sexual Charisma of Jake Tapper Can Save Them Nancy Mace "Physically Accosted" and Injured by "Pro-Trans Man" Wednesday Morning Rant Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Times They Are A Changin' Open Thread - [Niedermeyer's Dead Horse] |
Main
| No More College Football »
January 11, 2014
"Compassionate Conservatism" ... Kill It With Fire!Ben Domenech's "compassionate conservatism" piece at The Federalist is a good read. It begins with a takedown of Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner's renewed call for slightly smaller big government, since we apparently didn't learn the lesson of how poorly this works during the GWB years. As you can see, though, Gerson and Wehner have identified the real cause of our problems: “One of the main problems with an unremittingly hostile view of government — held by many associated with the tea party, libertarianism and “constitutionalism” — is that it obscures and undermines the social contributions of a truly conservative vision of government. Politics requires a guiding principle of public action.” According to these guys, if you're reading this blog, you are the problem. You want a government of limits and boundaries? Are you nuts? I really wish Gerson and Wehner would have the courage to admit that this worldview isn't appreciably different than that of the left. Although they mouth the right words against it to frame their argument, deep down they're fine with the basic structure of the left's governing vision (i.e., centralized control over every aspect of your life, for your own good) and their main differentiator appears to be that "conservatives" like them will use this unbounded power benevolently, while the left will go to extremes. Vote for Conservative Brand™ Big Government and all your problems will be solved! James Madison (old dead white guy, demonstrably constitutionalist, fan of the original tea party) eloquently stated the real issue that eludes big government fanbois like Gerson and Wehner, who threw some quotes from the Federalist Papers into their essay but strangely missed this one. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. Gerson and Wehner fail to grasp that second part. What they call "compassionate conservatism", I call "laying the groundwork for left's lawless SuperState". Madison was smart enough to know that you can't depend on "angels" like Gerson and Wehner to govern you, so you'd better focus on guarding against the devil ... ... which makes for an awkward segue to Marco Rubio (R-Amnesty), but I'm going to do it anyway. ... Senator Marco Rubio’s proposal this week for an anti-poverty reform agenda is a useful example of the problem these compassionate conservative assumptions run into when you attempt to put them into practice. While consolidation and block-granting are all well and good, Rubio doesn’t stop there:“Mr. Rubio will also propose Wednesday to replace the Earned Income Tax Credit, which was used by 28 million tax payers in 2011, with a new “wage enhancement” system that directs federal money towards supplementing the income of people who work in “qualifying low-income jobs.” To the left, ever to the left, never to the right, always to the left ... This is how the "ratchet" works, and Rubio just lurches from disappointment to disappointment on these issues. And it's not just him ... the GOP as a whole hasn't exactly been a bulwark against the creeping advance of statism. We'll be hearing a lot about "income inequality" in the runup to the 2014 midterms, since that's apparently what the Democrats want to talk about instead of Obamacare. You can rest assured that "solutions" to this non-problem offered by the GOP will reflexively leap in the direction of "compassion" and not in the direction of STOP! Come to think of it, I'm really not sure what Gerson and Wehner are complaining about. Their wing of the party has pretty much gotten what it wants at every turn, and look at all we have to show for it. Related: Compassionate conservatives strike back against Tea Party, Some Problems with Rubio's Poverty Proposals | Recent Comments
Martini Farmer:
"It's possible to take a commercial drone... like t ..."
Gref: "87 So, we need to try launching certain women into ..." Hour of the Wolf: "So, we need to try launching certain women into th ..." Boron Cobbie - Women can't be incels, it's impossible: " My wife got pulled over for speeding years ago wh ..." Notorious BFD: "[i]By my calculation, almost 57,000 useless govern ..." JackStraw: ">>If they were spy drones they would not be lit up ..." [/i][/b]andycanuck (hovnC)[/s][/u]: "Scott Adams @ScottAdamsSays 7h The drones probabl ..." weft cut-loop[/i][/b] [/s]: "[i]So, we need to try launching certain women into ..." scampydog: "Got an interview in the morning. Cyber Security jo ..." Archer : "My wife got pulled over for speeding years ago whi ..." San Franpsycho: "I saw Clapton at the Hollywood Bowl in October. He ..." Hour of the Wolf: "I have a crazy idea on how to deal with the huge d ..." Recent Entries
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - December 11, 2024 [TRex]
For the Birds Cafe NYT: The Biden "Immigration Boom" Is the Biggest In This Country's Almost 250-Year History; 60% of Recent "Newcomers" Entered Illegally Utah Man News West Point Administrator Colludes With Leftwing Attack Dog to Smear Pete Hegseth With Completely-False Lie Prices Jump 2.7% In November as Country Enjoys Fourth Straight Year of Transitory Inflation The Criminal Christopher Wray Announces His Resignation at FBI "Townhall" Non-Breaking News: CNN's Ratings Are Absolute Dogshit and Not Even the Smoldering Dark Sexual Charisma of Jake Tapper Can Save Them Nancy Mace "Physically Accosted" and Injured by "Pro-Trans Man" Wednesday Morning Rant Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |